Originally Posted by
SteveinMN
First, k99km01, welcome to SLF!
I came to simple living sooner than my wife did. Neither one of us really ever climbed onto the hamster wheel of consumerism. But we made good salaries and were not opposed to spending it on things that -- it turns out -- we haven't missed much lately.
What works for each couple/family will be different. What worked for us was two things:
- An awareness of what we were spending. It's one thing to believe "we're spending too much on dining out". It's another to know that, over the last six months, you spent an average of $80 a week on dining out -- the equivalent of a car payment every month. Putting real numbers on something takes it out of the realm of perception and provides solid data on which you can debate whether the spending is worth it. Track what you spend.
- Playing to DW's interests. She has long said she wants to retire in 2019. Work has been more challenging lately and now she's musing about retiring sooner. Well, there are two ways that can happen: either we earn more money or we don't spend as much. Going FI (or as close as we can get to it) gives DW a choice in when she retires. There is a direct relationship between how much we can save and/or cut what we spend and how much sooner than 2019 DW can consider either a less-taxing job or retirement. That puts DW's skin in the game, as they say, and makes it easier for her to decide whether buying that blouse or bringing in take-out is worth staying in her current job that much longer.